Truth or Consequences
by PCGirl
Summary: Set from spoilers on Jolie ONS in 2007. After a night of drinking away their issues John and Natalie find comfort in each other. Story covers the aftermath. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters are property of ABC/Disney. I'm just using them for my own satisfaction and returning them after I'm done.

A/N: So I found this story the last week and have no memory of writing it. Seriously-none. But I love it-if it was supposed to be longer, or include more scenes I have no recollection so I'm just posting it. It's short-just three little chapters. I guess I wrote it after hearing a spoiler for the ONS and what I thought would lead to it/reaction afterwards. Enjoy! Until next time-PCGirl.

* * *

Natalie could feel the alcohol sloshing in her head and knew this was wrong—knew she should be trying to make her way towards the door and out of John's place. But she couldn't get her legs to move off the couch—she was frozen and as John's face came towards her a part of her wanted his touch—his kiss—just like before.

John's first thought when his lips met hers was she didn't taste like she normally did—instead there was a strong taste of alcohol and he wondered if they should be doing this. If it wasn't just something else they'd regret in the morning.

He couldn't stop though—as his mouth left hers and he got a glimpse into her blue eyes he fell right back into the motions—as if the past seven months of being apart and being with others hadn't affected them in one way or another.

The words she'd said earlier—beating herself up once again over a mistake she had no control of—he needed to erase that hurt for her, it was the least he could do. She'd always done that for him—always been able to put the demons to rest for him, even if it was only for a night and he brought them to life once again the next morning.

Natalie closed her eyes—she had to try and break the longing stare that John had on her—that he always had on her. That's why she'd kept her distance all these months—knowing if she stayed around him too long or let a look last a little too long then she'd fall back into the same old routine.

Damn Jared Banks. Damn him for making her decide to talk about everything to John—to make him help her realize none of it was her fault. She felt John's hand push her hair out of her face with the same gentleness as always. She felt his mouth begin to hover close to hers again and could smell the whiskey on his breath.

Damn John McBain. Damn him for having this constant, unbelievable hold on her. She opened her mouth to try and stop his next move, but instead John saw it as an invitation to continue what he'd been doing. And yet she didn't stop him—instead she welcomed it like the father welcomed home the prodigal son.

John let his mouth cover Natalie's only for a second before traveling to her neck, and he could instantly taste her once again—her sweetness that had always had more of an effect on him than the alcohol or whiskey did. His hands traveled to her waist and he pulled them both off the couch and walked backwards towards the bed. As they walked her head went back, granting him better access to her collar, his teeth nipping at her soft skin with more eagerness.

When the back of his legs hit the bed he stopped what he was doing and once again looked at her—making she there was no regret on both of their actions yet. When he didn't see any he continued his quest to reacquaint himself with Natalie's body—they would deal with the consequences later.

* * *

John just sat there in the chair watching her sleep. He'd been awake for hours, reliving the emotions of the night—not just the chemistry that still held between them, but the feeling of being where he needed to be. He'd fallen asleep holding her somewhere around two and woken up less than 30 minutes later—remembering a memory from the accident that he'd forgotten—how'd he'd seen them at Rodi's playing pool with their kids. A little girl that had her beautiful red hair, and a little boy that looked like him but played like his mom.

When he'd awoken he'd kissed the top of her head and whispered he'd loved her—that he always had. The love wasn't their problem though—the problem was him and his constant putting her second for something bigger—something more important when in all actuality there was nothing more important in his life than her.

He'd laid there in the dark for so long—unsure as to when he'd fallen back asleep, but slipped out of the bed when he thought she might wake up. He knew exactly how she'd act when she woke. Surprised—embarrassed—swearing that it meant nothing and apologizing the entire time as she collected her clothes that were scattered about, quickly putting them on and running out the door.

He'd already decided he'd let her run—but not far, and definitely not for long.


	2. Chapter 2

"Earth to Sparky."

Natalie shot around to tell Jared to stop calling her that, but the look on his face was saying something else, "What?"

"I've been calling your name for half a minute-where is your head today?" he asked as he walked towards her desk. Looking into her eyes he saw confusion and he wondered-was making her think he was her Uncle a good idea?

"My head is in this important proposal we have to have ready for the rest of the board tomorrow-where else would it be?" she scoffed, trying to ignore the mental image of John's hands on her body last night-making love to her with a tenderness he rarely did.

"Well, considering your mind just started to go there again I don't buy that. Let's go to lunch-we need to talk," he said-finally deciding he'd end this farce and tell her the truth.

"I'm not hungry," she said, breaking his gaze and starting to rummage through papers on her desk.

"Fine," he said-giving up and walking out the door.

Natalie finally sat down in her desk and was able to focus on the proposal. She felt her stomach growl and wondered if it was safe to sneak out for a quick bite to eat without Jared catching her. Better yet-she wondered if it was safe to go to Rodi's and be sure that John wouldn't be there. She couldn't talk to him about last night-not now, not ever. They could just ignore the giant elephant in the room like always.

The page from her assistant made her jump and she answered, "Hello?"

"Natalie-there's a delivery out here for you. Do you want me to let him in?"

"Please," she said, curious as to what type of delivery it was. She stood up to greet him and felt the blood drain from her face as she saw John walk in and close the door behind him. "John—what are you doing here?"

A smile crept up his face at seeing her reaction—he'd caught her off guard by showing up here, but it was a good thing—he had the upper hand and could call the shots, even just until she got her footing and shooed him out the door, "I brought lunch," he said, holding out a to-go bag from Rodi's.

"I—I'm not hungry," she said, though the smell was already making her hungrier.

"Suit yourself," he said as he took a chair and pulled it up to her desk before opening the bag and pulling out the burger he'd gotten for himself. He took a moment to look around the office—it was large, well furnished, and completely ostentatious—nothing like he'd expect Natalie to have. He looked at her and could tell she was starving—she probably hadn't stopped for a bite to eat after their encounter the night before—just ran home, showered, and came to work—throwing her mind into it hoping it'd erase the memory. "You sure you aren't hungry?" he asked, as he took a bite.

Natalie shook her head, "Why are you really here, John?"

"We need to talk," he said, as he leaned back in the stuffy chair—nobody had actually ever tried to relax in this chair, he thought.

"We did—earlier."

"No," he corrected. "Earlier you woke up, grabbed your clothes, ran into the bathroom to put them on and then ran out of my apartment, the whole time apologizing. Now, I want to sit here, eat lunch with you, and talk about what happened—and why it did."

"It happened because we were drunk, John. It was nothing more than a drunken booty call. Now if you don't mind—I've got a proposal to work on."

"Ok, but maybe later you'll meet me for a game of pool—say sixish? That's all—I swear," he said as he stood up, showing the palms of his hands as if in defeat and turned and walked out of the room.

As he closed the door to her office and gave her assistant a nod he wondered if this would work—if they weren't so separated from each other that they couldn't get back what they once worked so hard to have.


	3. Chapter 3

Natalie tapped the keypad of her laptop as she finished working on the proposal—it was complete, except for a few minor details that could wait until morning. Her eyes wandered once again down to the trash can that now held the empty to-go bag from Rodi's. She'd been shocked by John's gesture of bringing her lunch earlier—just as she had done for him more times than she could count.

She wondered what tonight would be like—he was obviously trying to woo her back into his arms, and if she was honest she wanted to be back in them. Finally letting her guard down she thought about the night before—how good his touch felt, but she had reservations—she had found herself again, and as much as she loved John and knew he cared about her—when she was around him it seemed like she lost herself, and she didn't want that to happen again.

She grabbed her purse and walked out the door, looking in her purse for her keys and suddenly ran into someone, "Sorry," she said, looking up at Jared Banks.

"Hey—you got a minute to talk?" he asked, trying not to stare into her eyes too deeply.

"No, I'm on my way to meet someone. Can this wait until tomorrow? We need to finalize the proposal anyways," she said as she tried to walk around him and he stopped her. "Jared—let me by."

"No," he said as he pushed her into an empty office and closed the door.

"Fine. What is this about?" she asked, trying to make this quick, she didn't want to keep John waiting too long in fear that he'd chicken out if she wasn't there right at six.

"The letter—the one Nigel showed your dad and Bo that I was their brother—it was fake."

Natalie stared at him—it had hurt bad enough just a week ago when she'd found out she'd been making out with her own relative, at least Jess had the luxury to say even though they did sleep together they weren't blood relatives. "And how would you know this? You and Nigel aren't the best of chums."

"It was a con—."

"I thought you weren't a con."

"I'm—I'm not. I overheard Nigel about whom the real heir was—I threatened to tell everyone who it really was unless he let me be him—just for a little while."

"Did you not think about how I would feel about thinking I was making out with my uncle?"

"No—but that's why I'm ending this now. Because of you—."

"Because you felt sorry for me?" she asked, her anger rising and all thoughts of where she was headed to before this bombshell escaping her thoughts. "I hate it when—."

Jared threw his hands up to stop her, "Yeah—I know—when people feel sorry for you. But I can't keep looking at you and thinking about you like I am now while still playing the part of your uncle."

"Oh—you think that knowing you aren't my uncle is going to make things better now?" she said as she slipped past him and walked towards the door. "Think again pal—conning me is one thing, conning the entire Buchanan clan is a whole other can of worms," she said as she took one last look at him standing there before slamming the door shut.

* * *

John walked to the edge of the docks—he'd been walking for about an hour now in silence since leaving Rodi's. She'd never come. He'd talked to Mac earlier in the day and he'd agreed to let John rent out Rodi's—it was during the peak of dinner rush, but he'd told John he'd do anything for him and Natalie, they belonged together and he hoped they found their way back to each other.

But she'd never shown, even when Mac told John he'd wait an extra half hour at no charge, but John had declined and instead walked out into the December night.

He looked around the empty dock and remembered her words months ago—

 _You know I'm right John._

He wished he'd argued with her—wish he'd had it in himself one more time to start an argument where they agreed to keep their relationship whole, taken whatever it took to not end something they'd wanted for so long.

He started to turn around—deciding on going home for the night, he'd call her and invite her to breakfast in the morning. Maybe he'd been a little forward earlier—he'd give her time to think, but he wasn't going to give up.

As he turned he saw Natalie standing there watching him—how long had she been there? Was she even going to tell him she was there or just slip away without him seeing her? "Hey."

"Hey," she said, not quiet making full eye contact as she came forward. She had just decided to let him be—it was hard to read him from the back and she wasn't sure he was thinking of her at the moment—this place held no good memories for them, and she'd witnessed his and Marty's kiss here so she assumed it was of her. "You looked like you were in pretty deep thought just then."

"Yeah," he said with a nod as he walked closer to her. "There was once this woman I fell in love with—and no matter how well our relationship was going, I always screwed it up. I was hoping she'd give me another chance."

The combination of his words and looking into his blue eyes had Natalie instantly ready to go into his arms, but she remembered what she'd decided to tell him earlier—before the whole bombshell with Jared had her running to the roof the Angel Square Hotel to think.

"Since we've been apart I've found myself John—the real me, the one that knew exactly who she was—not Vicki and Clint's daughter, not Cris' wife or your girlfriend, but Natalie Balsom Buchanan who came to this town and didn't cower under some nameless title.

"And I like being her again—I like being able to make decisions and not worry about what someone will think. When I'm with you it's so easy to get lost and forget who I am—forget the real me. If we do try this relationship out again and it works—I'm not going to walk on egg shells this time—am I making sense?" she asked, worried he'd see it more as an ultimatum rather than an explanation of who she felt she'd become once again.

John couldn't think of a good answer so he did the one thing he thought might be right, he lifted her head up and covered her mouth with his. When he released her from his kiss he looked into her eyes, moving her hair out of her face, "Perfect sense. You want to go to Rodi's or home?"

"Home," she said softly, as they turned and began to walk away together, him putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close just as he had done months ago, but this time he knew she wouldn't be leaving at the end of the night, not tonight, not ever.


End file.
